Join international leaders, civil society, and policy-makers in discussing the EU's ongoing work to support democracy against growing challenges. The event will feature Keynote Addresses by Ms Jutta Urpilainen, EU Commissioner for International Partnerships, and Ambassador Lisa Peterson, Senior Official for Civilian Security, Democracy, and Human Rights and Acting Assistant Secretary at the US State Department.

These Keynotes will be followed by a timely debate on EU-level and multilateral approaches to defending democracy.

Discussants include:

Staffan I. Lindberg, Democracy Network 21, Director of V-Dem Institute;
Kevin Casas-Zamora (Secretary-General, International IDEA);
Jonas Parello-Plesner (Executive Director, The Alliance of Democracies Foundation);
Teija Tiilikainen (Director, European Centre of Excellence for Countering Hybrid Threats).

In light of the global trend of democratic backsliding, increasing authoritarian tendencies and rising hybrid influencing, there is a need for continued leadership, action, and partnerships to make democracy thrive in the world. The EU has taken up the challenge by adopting the new EU Action Plan on Human Rights and Democracy and European Democracy Action Plan. The EU also supports the plan of the U.S. President Joe Biden to host a global Summit for Democracy in 2021. The debate will focus on this renewed momentum for multilateral cooperation and partnerships to sustain democracy.

The event is organised by the Ministry for Foreign Affairs of Finland (as the Presidency of Nordic Council of Ministers), Democracy Network 21 (a Finnish-Swedish multi-stakeholder platform), the European Partnership for Democracy (EPD) and the International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance (International IDEA).